Erasing Time by C.J. Hill
Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected publication: August 28th, 2012 by Katherine Tegan Books (Harper)
Source: Gift
In this high-action and romantic futuristic adventure, there is no escape from the future for two contemporary girls pulled out of their own time.
When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that’s so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can’t go back home.
The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The moblike Dakine fights against the government, and somehow Taylor and Sheridan find themselves in the middle. The only way to elude them all is to trust Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.
Full of adrenaline-injected chases and heartbreaking confessions, Erasing Time explores the strength of the bonds between twins, the risks and rewards of trust, and the hard road to finding the courage to fight for what you believe in.
I went into this book only knowing it was sci fi. I liked not really knowing what it was about because it allowed me to be surprised with every twist and turn. But when I read that description it makes me even more excited about this book because it's so accurate and true.
The girls are from now and are pulled into the future 400 years. Imagine how much our language has changed, how sayings have died out and how much things are just so different. I really enjoyed this bit. The twins didn't need a secret twin language, they could just talk in figures of speech and no one knew what they were saying. This was awesome and hilarious. Now the only ones who even understand Sheridan and Taylor are Echo and his father who are wordsmiths. They've studied history, particularly our century. So they know the language. Or dialect, really. They also have loads of questions. They have really misinterpreted a lot of stuff and it's pretty funny to hear the things they've always thought.
I really enjoyed the characters in the book a lot. Taylor was a bit hard to warm up to, but Sheridan and Echo are the ones who we get the story from. It's not in first person, but yet from their POV. And they were great characters. I also really loved Echo's father who has so much enthusiasm for history and can't seem to soak up enough information that the girls have to share. Though sometimes they just have plain old fun with them and tell them totally ridiculous things.
The sci fi elements weren't confusing or over my head. I suppose there was some science'y stuff I didn't understand, but it was so brief it wasn't really an issue. And I could picture this future so clearly and it brought up so many things about our own society and the direction it may be taking. Or could take. And it's scary stuff.
The book is a bit slower paced until closer to the end. At times I grew frustrated because the lack of communication and it felt like things weren't getting anywhere. I just wanted everyone to talk and figure it out rather then refusing to trust anyone. I also felt like the romance moved a bit fast. I mean, they could have had time to develop feelings first. However it didn't really have an insta love feel either because there's not any undying love, it's still just attraction, but the kissing starts early.
Overall this was a really enjoyable read. It had funny, it had romantic and it had intense action. It's also a clean read as there's no bad language, no drug use, no sex and the violence is minimal. The end of the book had a good closing, but could be open for more. I don't know for sure if it's a planned series, but it felt that way to me as there's so much more to happen.
I received this book as a gift from someone who got it from ALA. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.
